City among the lights
by At the mercy of irony
Summary: I'm no good at summaries... so you'll just have to read! And leave a review afterwards, of course.


A lone figure stood atop a ship. She was at the front, staring with a content heart out at the sea. A wooden dragon's head stood on the front, also watching the soft moonlight dancing on the water. The dragon's eyes slightly glowed green, giving more light out to the dark midnight sky. Yet it was very easy to see, the stars were plentiful and danced around above her head. Many clouds passed over them, but they were all pearly white, not grey, and in warning of storm. The dark green sea was calm, and only very few waves made it to the boat, slightly rocking it. Everyone else was asleep in his or her cabin. She was alone, apart from the dragon, which she was holding tightly around the neck and the cold deck, scratched and scuffed black, bolts coming loose in places, and planks were coming up. She momentarily let go of the head protruding out of the floor below and pulled her purple, velvet textured robes around her tighter. It was indeed cold, and for a second she considered going back inside, but there was such beauty in the sea that she wanted to admire it more. The boat was tied up at Atteka Inlet, and the boat had just received wings. It gave the boat such capabilities! But she knew they would just be wasted. They were going to Mars Lighthouse, then they would be returning home. There was no room to explore, she thought, and sighed. Suddenly something in the sky flashed. She looked up at it. Nothing had happened, from the looks of it. She rubbed her eyes.  
  
"I must be hallucinating." She thought.  
  
3 seconds passed after she had this thought, then another light flashed. It wasn't the moon, it wasn't the stars, wasn't lightning or a lighthouse, and it wasn't candlelight either. Yet there was a light coming from behind the cloud, and was brighter than any other light she had ever seen. Rubbing her eyes again, she retreated back into her cabin below the deck of the ship.  
  
*_*_*_*_*_*_*  
  
The next day, at breakfast, Sheba consoled herself by rearranging her cereal. Felix noticed this. Jenna and Piers were oblivious, involved in conversation.  
  
"Are you a bit nervous?" he asked, staring at the lovely picture of a rabbit floating on the milk in her bowl.  
  
"About what?" she replied.  
  
"You're going to be flying the ship today! Have you forgotten?" he asked, surprised that she had done so.  
  
"Oh, yes. That's it." She said, then went back to making pictures out of her breakfast. Sheba couldn't believe that the boat had received wings, and was more excited than anyone to use them. But they wouldn't be able to use them for very long. Mars Lighthouse was going to be lit soon, whether they liked it or not.  
  
*_*_*_*_*_*  
  
When the time came to the point that they used the ship, Sheba's spirits dropped lower than they had ever been before. The sun was shining brightly, and there wasn't a cloud in sight for miles, the breeze taking away what might have been sticky heat. The water was crystal clear. It wasn't that it was a bad day for sailing. It was the actual sailing part that was disappointing.  
  
Piers carefully steered the boat carefully out of the inlet, and came to a pile of rocks, a small reef blocking their path.  
  
"Care to take a shot, Sheba?" he asked.  
  
Sheba simply nodded, then went into concentration. A blue glow surrounded her for more than a minute, and she closed her eyes, hands outstretched. Rings of purple psynergy rose above her, opening at her feet, and closing above her head. Piers, Jenna, and Felix sat in anxiety, wandering what it would feel like to be lifted up into the air. Suddenly, a jolt of energy filled the boat and water dripped off its sides. It rose a bit higher, and stood floating right on top of the water. Sheba concentrated harder, while the others rushed to the side of the boat in unison to see what was going on. A few seconds later, the boat was slightly higher, and floated in the air. She felt like she was actually lifting the boat, as if the boat was on her shoulders. She strained and tried to make the boat go higher, but it wouldn't go. It was stuck there in midair, but she could relax again, because it stayed there, waiting to be towed away. Piers rushed over to the steering wheel and drove the boat over the reef, and with a huge splash, it fell back into the water right past it. The other two went to question Sheba.  
  
"Are you ok?" was the first, asked by Felix. Indeed, Sheba was sitting, almost lying down, trying to catch her breath. You'd be tired too, if you wanted to lift 4 people and a boat into the air, even if you were using magical powers.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine!" she said.  
  
"Wasn't that amazing?" was the second.  
  
"I guess." She replied. Felix stared at her for a second, as if she'd just announced that she was going to see if a moose was hiding in the temple on the moon.  
  
"What do you mean?" he replied.  
  
"Well, I just thought that we could go a bit... higher. That was all." she said.  
  
"What do you mean, a bit higher? How high do you expect to lift a boat?" snorted Jenna.  
  
Sheba turned bright red. "Never mind..." she replied, then went back to the dragon to stare out at the sea.  
  
*_*_*_*_*_*_*  
  
That night, Sheba came out once again to look at the stars. It was the same atmosphere as last time, the stars were the same, the moon was the same, even the colour and motion of the sea was the same. It was almost midnight. She had been waiting for hours, for a light to flash in the clouds again. There was something up there, she knew of it. The idea had struck just after the rise of the ship. There was the possibility that there was something up there in the clouds, and it was possible because of the wings. She ran around to the side of the ship to see the wings in still mode, then leaned overboard and ran her fingers over them. She was amazed, they were really wings of feather and flesh. How was it possible that such a thing could be made? She was wondering about this when all went dark. Sheba almost jumped, but it was ok, it was only a cloud passing over the moon. Then suddenly, the light appeared. This time it was almost blinding, spreading a glow of white over the blue ocean. 5 seconds passed. And then the light was gone.  
  
Sheba practically flew to the dragonhead, and immediately tried to make the ship float up to it. There was something up in the clouds, and she had the power to see it...  
  
The same blue glow came.  
  
The same rings of psynergy embraced her warmly.  
  
The ship was lifted up above the water, just as usual.  
  
But this time, Sheba too was lifted up, above the ship at a much a faster pace. Suddenly, the ship faltered as her concentration broke.  
  
Piers stormed out on the deck. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted, trying to find his voice above the newly found wind. And Sheba slowly descended back onto the ship. The ship, however, plunged down into the sea below with a sickening crash. Water flooded onto the deck, making it slippery and sinking it slightly.  
  
Piers started yelling at her, but she was oblivious to it all. She had done it, the ship could go high, not as high as she might have wanted, not even nearly as high as the blinding light, but it was a start. It wouldn't take long before the whole boat could be easily lifted up into the skies... but then again, it seemed an impossible thought. In fact, she had no idea how it had happened in the fist place, she was concentrating, but she had no idea what she was concentrating on. Was it rising the ship? Maybe. But it felt like she was concentrating on what was up where the ship could be risen. And as for the wings, they were like real birds wings, living. But they weren't living. How could they be? Was there a giant bird underneath the ship? Of course not.  
  
"Yes, yes. Whatever you say, Piers." And with that he stormed back into the cabins and left Sheba to watch the ocean once more.  
  
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*  
  
Ok, I think I have officially made the worlds shortest chapter.  
  
They'll get longer.  
  
Um... R&R, but please don't be too hard on me with all the flames...  
  
What? I said please. ^_^ 


End file.
